The gross, Trump-style campaign that former Marine and pharmaceutical CEO Bob Hugin ran against U.S. Senate incumbent Bob Menendez, whose campaign was mired with the stench of a federal corruption trial, seemed to be a metaphor for plenty of races across the country.

Apparently wearing clothes pins on their noses, political cartoonists drew some nostril burning images to mark these 2018 midterm elections.

Among several other themes that emerged during the final days of the election season, included Trump's border troops and the so-called southern invasion. The president had ordered to send 5,200 military personnel to the border to symbolically form a wall against the 4,000 refugees who are still some 1,000 miles away from the closest U.S.-Mexico border point.

The year of the woman and how deeply divided the country remains were also drawn into the annals of these 2018 midterms.